Angel of Mine (Completed)

Chapter 12

“Well, it’s about time you found your way back to the mansion Lathan.  I seem to wonder if you had forgotten where you live.” 

Valeria was seated at the long dining table.  For days now, she waited for her only son to come home.  She has been so used to eating alone and has become numb to the painful reality that she will be alone until she meets her creator.  No one seemed to understand why she has become that cold hearted woman she is now.  Like Lathan she has been the only child, raised by an absent mother.  She grew up thinking that the detached behavior has made her this strong, a force to be reckoned with in the financial business arena.  How wrong she was for even thinking that not showing too much motherly concern to a son would toughen him up.  Everything in her life had felt empty and as cold as steel wrapped around her heart.  Emotions such as love were foreign to her, even when she married her late husband.  It was all a marriage of convenience like the medieval times.  An arrangement while they were still in their cribs.  How she wished it was all so different.  Maybe, just maybe she can still salvage the little regard his son may have for his mother and wait for it to blossom into a real mother and child relationship.  She can only hope.

With a deep sigh and bowing of head in exasperation, Lathan faced his mother after rubbing his face. 

“When are you leaving mother?  It seems unusual that you are still here.”   His mother’s meddling is beginning to grate on his nerves.  He waited for a retort from his mother as she stood and walked towards him.  When his mother reached for his hand, he took 2 steps back and raised his arms to ward her off.   “DON’T!” 

A sharp pain shot through her heart at her son’s stance.  He didn’t want her to even touch him.  He looked appalled by her very presence.  She clutched her heart and her throat clenched.  Unbidden tears came on their own accord until is progressed into choked painful sobs.  What have I done?  My son hates me.

 

“This is getting old mother.  Your dramatics will no longer have the desired effect on my sympathy.  The stunt that you pulled at the ball was a low blow.  It may sound callous to you but I don’t think I have any respect left for you.  I will live my life as I please and marry the woman I have come to love and truly respect.  If you cannot live with that, then it is best that you just leave like you always do.”

With a last disgusted look at his so called mother, he went up into his bedroom suite.  He grabbed his smart phone and voice dialed Cerise.  Nothing but her voice can calm him right now.

*****

My dad and I were on the car driving towards the Wellsworth Sport Complex for the intercollegiate swimming competition.  I competed in several and had had my share of victories.  The stillness inside the car made me realize that dad and I had been thinking the same thoughts.  I held his hand and with a faint smile I said, “I miss her too dad.”  He squeezed my hand and looked front again.  I was all hyped up this morning but now that we were nearly there, I felt that something was out of place.  Or maybe I could just be missing Lathan.  He had surprisingly been busy with the family enterprise.  He promised to be there to cheer me on after his back to back meetings. 

Snippets of our nightly chat before bed time pushed into my thoughts. He mentioned that last night he had a minor episode with his mother.  He said he almost felt that she was really trying her best to bridge the gap.  But he still ended up frustrated and angry.